My Focus: You
by PinkRaichu
Summary: During the Purge, Vanille witnesses Lightning's efforts on the train to save everyone. Inspired by her bravery, Vanille decides to find Lightning no matter the cost. Is her love meant to be? Vanille x Lightning. Yuri.
1. Chapter 1: The Soldier Girl

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone! Thank you for checking out my story. I just wanted to give a quick warning before you start reading: although my story starts at the beginning of the game, there are a lot of spoilers from events that happen later on in the game. If you have not played through the whole game, these spoilers may give away some important details. However, I do not want to discourage anyone from reading the story. Thank you again for taking the time to read my work :3

***Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to Square Enix's _Final Fantasy XIII_ franchise.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Solider Girl**

Everyone has different coping methods. She was like Cocoon- sealed away, completely protected from outsiders. She separated herself from everyone else, floating high above us all, her emotions a far away moon that no one could reach. I was like Gran Pulse- I ran wild and free, but I had my own survival skills. I was like a Navidon; I wore an intricate shell (_cheerful and carefree_) to trick everyone into thinking that I had thick skin. But this carapace was actually quite transparent and with enough force, it caved inward and my weakest parts were revealed (_uncertain and insecure_). I was also like Pulse in that I wanted to bring down Cocoon, to infiltrate its armor and to find all of its safe-kept secrets…

Enough with the analogies. I wanted to find out what was bothering her. I wanted to break down her walls and comfort her. I wanted to love her.

The Purge. Within the deepest parts of Cocoon, the Sanctum government found a Fal'Cie from Gran Pulse, Cocoon's greatest enemy. Every citizen in Cocoon found near this godlike being was to be "relocated" to Gran Pulse, for fear the Fal'Cie had corrupted them. Being prodded and pushed by PSICOM soldiers, the Cocoonians were led onto a train that would take them to Pulse. Upon entering the train, the citizens were changed into white robes. The soldiers forced them into crowded train cars and bond their hands.

"No sudden movements," the soldiers said. The passengers didn't move. They were terrified. They all suspected what "relocate" really meant. But actually arriving in Gran Pulse was just as daunting to them. It was rumored that Pulse was a wasteland of beasts and barbarians dead set on destroying Cocoon. How ironic. I sat there among them, looking no different from them (robes draped over our heads, faces hung low, hidden in fear and shame). And I felt no different from them- they had all already given up. I honestly didn't care about what happened to me. I already knew that I was going to become a Cie'th. And so, I decided to let the train take me home, to Pulse, where I could wander the wilderness with my ancestors, all of us mislead monsters, searching, searching, for something that we could never obtain, nothing to keep us going but a broken vow.

But that changed when I saw her.

Every passenger on the train sat in frightened silence, the only sounds the train tracks clicking underneath us and the precise footsteps of the soldier who patrolled our car, his gun held tightly in his hands. This anxious stillness continued until we went through an underpass; the opening of the tunnel had an electric barrier that must have been accidentally left on by the railroad staff. The train rammed through the barrier, causing the whole train to shudder. All of the passengers, myself included, were thrown back into our seats. The shock was so great that even the soldier stumbled. And in that brief but perfect moment, she struck.

Someone- one of the prisoners- piggybacked over the soldier's head. He faltered in surprise and dropped a remote control. Using her foot, the assailant (who, based on her abilities, must have been a soldier herself) stomped on the remote, and, as it broke in half, the bonds holding all of the prisoners were released. More soldiers stormed in from another car- she flipped and kicked, and, in doing so, her robe fell off, exposing her face.

She was beautiful. Strawberry hair, a serious yet pretty face, a great figure. And killer legs. Literally. She used them to take out more soldiers. Next, she stole their guns and took out every other soldier that came her way. Soon, the other passengers joined her and a full scale riot broke out. Before long the whole train had been won ever, but the news of this quickly reached the rest of PSICOM. They sent jets and biological weapons, desperately trying to stop the train. They were successful- an electric bolt instantly dissolved the tracks, the metal melting and mangling itself into a ball of wasted steel.

Among the chaos, I saw the soldier girl in front of me. But she was no longer there; I looked up and she was rising above me, toward the ceiling. I could tell by the slight light of panic in her eyes that the train had just capsized. I rolled through the air; now the soldier girl was below me, activating some kind of anti-gravity device. I had no such device. A blunt thud on the back of my neck. She drifted away and I drifted into unconsciousness as the other passengers tumbled around me.

"Honey. Honey, wake up." Someone was shaking my shoulder. _The soldier girl? _I opened my eyes_. _No. It was a woman with short silver hair. "Come on, honey," she said. "We can't stay in the wreckage, it's too dangerous." She helped me up and walked me over to a group of train survivors, all slumped together on the ground. The soldier girl wasn't there. "Take a seat," the nice woman said. I sat down behind her and a young boy I presumed to be her son.

I looked around. We were on some kind of bridge. There was no sign of PSICOM here, but elsewhere we could see escaped passengers fighting off soldiers. Everyone stayed huddled together in the group, afraid that the slightest budge would catch the attention of the army. The atmosphere wasn't much different than it had been on the train. Despite being free, everyone stared at the concrete with their heads down, and, despite the gunfire and battle raging on in the distance, it was silent. _Everyone is still scared, _I thought,_ even if their trip to Pulse has been delayed_. On the other hand, I _wanted_ to go to Pulse.

_Dying here would have no meaning_.

"Don't worry, no one's moving to Pulse today!"

I looked up. A group of rebels had appeared before us, all of them carrying guns and weapons. They all looked like skilled fighters… or maybe there were just ruffians... or idiots. Among them was a tall, muscular, blonde man with a green coat and a bandana wrapped around his forehead. He was the one who had spoken.

"We'll clear you a path out of here," he continued, confidence in his voice and posture.

_Who is this guy? _I thought. _Who decided that he was the leader?_

"So be ready-"

"Wait!" One of the survivors interrupted him. "Let me fight with you!"

"Yeah, you can't expect us to just sit here!" someone else yelled.

_Maybe they weren't as scared as I thought_.

"Okay then," the blonde man said, "Volunteers front and center."

They were hesitant at first, but after whispering amongst themselves, some of the passengers stood up and walked toward the blonde man.

I didn't budge. I didn't care. _There is no point in fighting, _I thought._ I am going to become a Cie'th soon anyway. It is inevitable. I've basically given- _But then I saw her face in my mind. The soldier girl. I replayed the events of the train in my head, remembering her flips and kicks. But it wasn't her technique that I was admiring… It was her courage. She had fought regardless of the odds against her. She was the _only_ one who actually tried to fight, the only one who had the audacity to do something so risky.

_Heh. What would she think of me right now? _I thought, watching as more and more of the passengers volunteered to fight. _She would probably laugh right in my face and say that I am pathetic. She's right…_

"Alright, last one. Somebody take it." I snapped out of my daydream; it was the blonde man, holding out a single gun. The nice woman's son refused and backed away. Without thinking, I stood up and chanted "Here!" I held out my arms. Handing me the gun, the blonde man said "Push comes to shove, keep 'em safe." He winked. _Ugh_. _He is so cocky and corny_. I tried to hide my disgust by saying "Bang!" and making a shooting motion with my arms. _Cuteness always throws people off._

"Oww!" the blonde man said, playing along. "All right," he proclaimed, becoming more serious. "Lay low and you'll be fine," he said, addressing the whole group. "We'll clear out the area."

_All talk, _I thought, _this guy is all talk_. But most of the survivors followed him into the fight, including the nice silver-haired woman. As brave as they were acting now, these people needed a leader in order to do anything for themselves.

Would the solider girl have followed him? No. She would see right through him. She would stand up and fight on her own. I gripped the gun to my chest. I was scared but…

_I am going to fight. I am going to find her. _


	2. Chapter 2: The Silver Haired Boy

**Author's Note:**

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of the favorites and follows on this story! I apologize for the extremely long wait for this chapter. I have school, student teaching, and two jobs, plus a thousand other stories in my head. I also apologize if this chapter is long, but I didn't want Vanille to run into Lightning right away; I really wanted to show her desperation. Enjoy and please comment if you like!

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Silver Haired Boy **

_Remember how I said I would never follow the blonde haired man? Well, that is exactly what happened. All because of the silver haired boy._

She fell.

He screamed.

The silver haired boy reached out his hand and let out a despairing shriek as he watched his mother (the nice silver-haired woman) fall from the grasp on the blonde man.

I watched in dismay, cupping my hands to my mouth in a gasp. I glanced over at the boy. He was shocked still, his face even paler than its natural color, his eyes staring at the collapsed bridge where his mother had been fighting only a few moments earlier. Because I was the only one there, I was forced to comfort him. Unsure of what to do, I placed my hands on his shoulders and said, "Come on" as I tried to pull him away. He wouldn't move. As someone who had just lost everything- my home, my family, my peaceful days of old- how was I supposed to console someone who had just lost the same, but in different circumstances?

And in my uncertainty and frustration- as horrible as it sounds- I slapped him. _Fwwwwp_. He started at me, looking somewhere between guilty and miserable. However, the slap seemed to reawaken his senses and he took my hand as I attempted to pull him again. I managed to drag him to safe area where other refugees were huddled together. But I could see his forlorn face as he removed his hood and his large eyes contort as he watched a nearby mother comfort her child.

Removing my own hood, I decided to give him the gun the blonde man had lent me. "Here," I said, as I shoved the gun into his hands. I didn't know what else to do. Deciding to fight had helped me forget my own insecurities; maybe it would somehow do the same for him. But just randomly handing someone a gun came off as incredibly awkward. He started at me, grief and confusion in his round eyes. To make up for this, I hugged him and said "It's too much, isn't it? Face it later"- a genuine attempt to cheer him up.

But I was wasting time.

I abruptly cheered "Ciao!" and ran away, fleeing my fate to find a new one. But it seemed that his own fate could not wait.

"Wait!" he called, chasing after me. Unfortunately, he caught up. "I need to find that man," he repeatedly told me, trailing me as I tried to lose him. "I need to find him. Because of him, mom is-"

"I need to find someone too," I said.

"Are they nearby?"

"Yes. I was supposed to meet up with her already. She will be very agitated if I am later than I already am," I lied.

"Please help me find him. Then you can go. I just don't want to be alone right now."

_Well, I do_, I thought to myself. _And_ _I can't think with you hanging around_. I stopped, the boy almost bumping into me, and looked around at my surroundings. _I have no idea where I am going, or where anything is located in this giant piece of junk._ I turned to look at the boy, who was nervously playing with his fingers. _But he lives here, so he must know. And it seems that he won't leave me alone unless I help him. _

"Okay," I said, "I will help you."

"R-really?" He almost managed a smile.

"Yes. If you want to find him, we should go back to the group of rebels he was with. He will probably meet up with them again at some point."

"O-okay!"

He continued to follow close behind me as we made our way back, only now he was silent. I felt more tense than ever. _I think I may have preferred his babbling._ Just as we found the group, the blonde haired man arrived in some kind of flying contraption. The sight of him made me cringe like before, but somehow the man seemed less cocky and confident than earlier. _Feeling guilty, are you?_

"That's him," stifled the pale, silver haired boy, hesitant and edgy.

"Didn't you have something to tell him?" I nudged him on.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Alright then!" I looked toward the blonde man as he chatted with his friends. _You know_, I thought, _he seems like an experienced fighter with that muscular build. And he knows how to fight and lead people. Maybe…_

"But I…" said the boy.

_Maybe he is a soldier_.

"I'll go with you," I said abruptly but vehemently.

"What?"

_If he is a soldier, he might know the solider girl. _"Go on!" I chanted as I pushed the boy forward. He didn't go far, pausing in his apprehension. _Ugh, if you want something done you have to do it yourself. _"Hey!" I yelled toward the crowd, trying to capture their attention.

_Wwwwwwhhhhhhh_. The blonde man started up the flying device, its loud engine disorienting me. He said some more things to his friends and flew away.

_He's leaving. If only that boy wasn't so cowardly! _Looking at him, the silver haired boy seemed more lost and exasperated than me.

I took in a deep breath. "HEY!" I yelled again. The group all turned their heads in my direction, startled but curious. "Where did he say he was going?" I asked.

The group walked over toward us, and a tan skinned, orange haired meathead answered my question: "The Pulse fal'Cie Vestige. But don't wander over there, it's dangerous, kids."

Ignoring the urge to stomp my foot, I smiled and said, "Okay." As soon as they were further away, the only thing visible their colorful hair and the outlines of their ridiculous clothing, I snuck over to a leftover flying machine. I scrutinized it, completely clueless to how it functioned. The pale boy slowly made his way over, dragging his feet. "Hmm? You okay? I asked as I looked over at him.

"I want to tell him, it's just that…" He grabbed my arm, showing how desperate he truly was.

"Say, you know how to fly this thing?" _Because I have no idea_.

"Yeah, I think so."

_Perfect._ "Alright! In you go!" I pushed him into the driver's seat, despite his apparent reluctance. "That way!" I cheerfully commanded as I jumped in behind him and pointed toward the Vestige. The boy shook his head, terrified of the fal'Cie and l'Cie. I tried to convince him to go and just when I thought it was futile-

"What are you doing?" the meathead from before screamed, running toward us.

"Here we go!" announced the silver haired boy, starting the engine, supposedly more afraid of the meathead than his insecurities about the Vestige. We rattled through the air, the flying machine veering back and forth, but the boy managed to steady the device as we zoomed away amidst the cries of the orange haired man.

Our landing was just as graceful as our ascension. We crashed into the huge vessel, landing on each other and damaging the flying device. As I got up and brushed myself off, I looked around. The place was abandoned. There were no signs of people anywhere, only the inhuman beeping of machines and the cold, hard stares of metal all around us.

"I guess it's just us," I said, looking down.

"What did you expect?" replied the boy.

_Her. If the soldier girl had the fearlessness to take on the whole army, I am sure she is gutsy enough to take on the original source of this whole fiasco- the fal'Cie itself. Maybe she is here somewhere._

"Even soldiers know not to go near the fal'Cie," continued the boy, as if reading my thoughts. "You become a Pulse l'Cie and you're finished."

"What you do mean 'finished'?" I sneered, seriously irritated at his constant backlashing of Pulse and its l'Cie.

"Haven't you heard, Miss-"

"Vanille," I said with extra emphasis.

"Huh?"

"My name. And yours?"

"Hope."

_Not a very fitting name_, I thought to myself.

From there, we started to explore the area, and Hope complained about Pulse the entire time. "You people's ignorance is scarier than anything on Pulse," I whispered under my breath. Hope continued his rant and my annoyance continued to mount until-

"Serah? You can hear me? Where are you? Hang on, baby! Your hero's on the way!"

The blonde man was somewhere in the Vestige. Hope was as emotional and unreliable as ever, but with this reassurance, we kept searching as we followed the sound of the blonde man's voice until-

Cieth. Hordes of them staggering toward us with their awkward gait, and their terrifying yet melancholic groans. Hope and I were prepared to fight, when _he_ showed up, the muscular blonde man, and helped us defeat every last one. His skill at battle only fed my suspicion that he was a soldier.

But our victory was short-lived.

Hope collapsed from the exhaustion of the battle, or from the traumatic surprise of seeing the blonde man right in from him so suddenly. Or maybe a mixture of both. I wasn't really sure.

"How did you get in here? You gotta leave!" the blonde man said, turning toward us. Our response was a nervous laugh from me, and a rueful glare from Hope. "Okay, listen," the man said. "Find someplace to hide and keep quiet. Once I find Serah, we'll all leave together." He turned his back to us and started walking away. "You'll be home in time for dinner!"

"_You_-" began Hope.

"Wait!" I yelled. The man stopped for a moment. "Who's Serah?" _Could it be the Serah I know?_

"My wife. Future wife, that is. She's a Pulse l'Cie. She's here somewhere, along with that fal'Cie."

I gasped. _No. No, no, no_.

"What's wrong with you?!" screamed Hope. He shouted at the man, calling him insane for helping a l'Cie, but I knew his anger was really directed somewhere else. "How can you help a l'Cie and not-"

But the blonde man did not listen. He ran off, unheeded by Hope, to save his fiancé. This is when Hope truly lost it. He fell to the floor, pounding his fist against the ground, cursing his fate. He reminded me of a Juggernaut, bursts of steam escaping from its body as it attacked foes and swung its limbs in retaliation. _I don't have time for this_, I thought to myself. _I need to follow that man so I can find the soldier girl. He would be much more helpful than this overwrought kid. Plus, I need to see if it is really Serah-_

The blonde man came back. At the sight of him, I let out a sigh of relief and Hope stopped his tantrum. He was the same as me. He couldn't show his weaknesses to anyone but a selected few.

"Hey again," the man said, waving gawkily.

"Hey," I nodded. I bent over toward Hope. "Let's go with him, Hope."

"What?" he asked, earnest and baffled.

"You gotta talk to him, Hope."

_I have to find her. _

"If you don't take this chance, you'll regret it forever."

_I'll regret it forever. _

"Okay…"

"Let's go!" called the blonde man.

And we did. Through fortified corridors, over clanking platforms, to the core of the vessel. As we descended into a chamber, the blonde man saw something and ran forward. He kneeled down and was speaking to someone, though I couldn't see who because of his massive bulk.

I approached slowly. I saw rose-colored tips of hair… I looked over his shoulder… and gasped. It _was_ Serah.

And holding her was the soldier girl.


End file.
